Army Group South Rear Area

Army Group South Rear Area
Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Süd
Active1941-43
Country Nazi Germany
BranchArmy (Wehrmacht)
Part ofArmy Group Centre and Army High Command
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Karl von Roques
Erich Friderici
Joachim Witthöft
Friedrich Mieth

Army Group South Rear Area (Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Süd) was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. Commanded by General Karl von Roques, it was an area of military jurisdiction behind Wehrmacht's Army Group South.

The Group South Rear Area's outward function was to provide security behind the fighting troops. It was also a site of mass murder during The Holocaust and other crimes against humanity targeting the civilian population. In the words of historian Michael Parrish, the army commander "presided over an empire of terror and brutality".[1]

  1. ^ Parrish 1996, p. 127.